


A Course Most Carefully Plotted

by misura



Category: Liaden Universe - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Genre: Background Het, M/M, Polyamory, Pre-Threesome, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Cheever makes his move. Pat Rin is, again, caught by surprise.
Relationships: Cheever McFarland/Pat Rin yos'Phelium
Kudos: 6





	A Course Most Carefully Plotted

Pat Rin's mouth felt very dry. _I do not deserve this._

"Mr McFarland," he said, realizing too late that he had no idea how to proceed.

"Cheever's fine, when it's just us," McFarland - Cheever? said, his voice as calm as ever.

"I regret - I cannot - " A number of polite phrases occurred to Pat Rin all at once, all of them well-suited for the occasion, save for the part where there would be no truth in them and thus, no honor.

As his oathsworn, McFarland deserved better.

" 's all right. Inas explained the whole thing to me," McFarland - _Cheever_ , Pat Rin corrected himself said.

Pat Rin felt a hysterical giggle well up. He held it back mostly because he feared that once he started he might not be able to stop. "How good of her."

"Yeah. Quite a lady, isn't she?" Cheever said, and hearing his tone, Pat Rin realized that he had been more blind yet than previously suspected. Briefly, he wondered if Inas felt likewise, before he discarded the thought as unworthy: Inas would see to her own honor, as Cheever would to his.

To be certain, it was not to Pat Rin to meddle in affairs he had been wholly unaware of until they had taken the kindness to point them out to him in the clearest possible terms.

"So." Cheever cleared his throat. His hands betrayed some doubt, a hint of nerves.

"Yes," Pat Rin said, because denying Cheever was beyond him. "Yes, of course. Forgive me. I will happily release you of your oath. Your service has been valuable beyond expression, and I thank you for it with all my heart."

Cheever's expression brightened with perhaps a hint of - was that _embarrassment_? Surely not.

"Good," Cheever said. "Good. That's good."

Pat Rin could think of a number of other adjectives he or others might apply to the situation. No telling which might be considered more scandalous and outrageous on Liad: a Juntavas or a human - or perhaps one of Korval, claiming himself lifemated to not one but two persons?

Yet the facts were indisputable. At least, Pat Rin amended wryly, the facts were the facts. Others might well find them easy enough to dispute.

"May I - "

"Uh, sure," Cheever said, adding in a tone that sounded more like his usual one, "Though you might need to finish that sentence to make sure we're both on the same page, boss."

_Truly, I do not deserve this._ And yet, if he was all that remained of Korval, necessity might well exist. Losing one of them, he might still have the other - though the mere idea chilled him to the core.

_Necessity._ He had known from the beginning balance would be difficult. It might well be that the price would be both of them, and he, unable to do aught but make that trade, that sacrifice.

"Boss? You all right?" Cheever sounded worried, as well he might.

Pat Rin attempted to compose himself and ventured a smile. "If I am to employ your personal name, perhaps you might likewise avail yourself of mine?"

"Oh! Uh, sure. If that's what you want, boss. Sorry."

Pat Rin felt his smile grow more genuine. "No matter. Call me by whatever name or title you desire. You've surely earned the right."

Cheever hummed a bit, removing his shirt. "No, no, if we're going to do this, we'll do it right. So 'Pat Rin' it is, and given that we both need to make an early start of it tomorrow, we might want to stop talking and see about getting to some uh not-talking. If you want to, I mean."

"Nothing could delight me more," Pat Rin said.

Cheever's lips twisted, and for a moment, Pat Rin thought he might dispute that claim, but then Cheever shook his head and leaned forwards to kiss him, as bold as Inas had been, and Pat Rin decided that it might be safe to cease thinking, at least for a little while.


End file.
